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Well, you can turn back in your 
Bibles to the Book of Acts. We're in Acts chapter 9 for our 
consecutive exposition through the Acts of the Apostles. We 
had finished up the account of Saul of Tarsus' conversion. He's 
converted to Christ. He's called by Christ to be a 
witness, a testimony with reference to Gentiles, kings, and the children 
of Israel. According to verse 15 in chapter 
nine, we won't meet with Paul the apostle again until chapter 
11 at verse 25, when Barnabas finds him in Antioch. So in chapter 
9 at verse 32 to chapter 12, verse 24, the emphasis is on 
Peter. So the ongoing ministry of the 
apostle Peter. The kingdom of God is not tied 
up in the agency of one man, but God uses Saul of Tarsus, 
he uses Peter, he uses James, he uses John, uses various means 
or instruments to extend the kingdom of God on earth. So we're 
looking at verses 32 to 43 in Acts chapter 9. Now it came to 
pass, as Peter went through all parts of the country, that he 
also came down to the saints who dwelt in Lydda. There he 
found a certain man named Inaeus, who had been bedridden eight 
years and was paralyzed. And Peter said to him, Inaeus, 
Jesus the Christ heals you. Arise and make your bed. Then 
he arose immediately. So all who dwelt at Lydda and 
Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord. At Joppa there was 
a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas. This 
woman was full of good works and charitable deeds, which she 
did. But it happened in those days that she became sick and 
died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. 
And since Lydda was near Joppa, and the disciples had heard that 
Peter was there, they sent two men to him, imploring him not 
to delay in coming to them. Then Peter arose and went with 
them. When he had come, they brought him to the upper room. 
And all the widows stood by him weeping, showing the tunics and 
garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them. But 
Peter put them all out and knelt down and prayed. And turning 
to the body, he said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes. And when she saw Peter, she sat 
up. Then he gave her his hand and 
lifted her up. And when he had called the saints and widows, 
he presented her alive. And it became known throughout 
all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord. So it was that he 
stayed many days in Joppa with Simon a tanner. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
thank you for the written word of the living God. We thank you 
for this inspired account of the early history of the church. 
And we pray now the Spirit would guide us and lead us as we consider 
this ongoing ministry of the Apostle Peter. Father, we thank 
you for the power displayed in such passages. We thank you for 
the the accompanying preaching of the word and the fact that 
many turned unto the Lord God. We give praise to you for your 
grace and for your mercy, that you have not left your creatures 
in that desperate, sinful condition of misery, but you've sent a 
Redeemer, you've sent your Spirit, you have indeed purpose to save 
a great multitude that no man can number. So again, we pray 
the spirit would guide us. We pray that you would forgive 
us for all of our sins and our transgressions. And we pray these 
things through Christ Jesus, our Lord, amen. Well, as I said, 
932 to 1224, the emphasis is upon Peter. In chapter 13, the 
emphasis will shift or focus then on the apostle Paul and 
his ministry specifically to the Gentiles. But Peter is sort 
of the entry, gate with reference to Gentile inclusion in the covenant 
promises of God. Here in chapter 9, we have these 
two miracles wrought by Christ through the instrumentality or 
agency of Peter. And then in chapter 10, we have 
a very significant passage of scripture, which is the conversion 
of a man by the name of Cornelius. And he does represent the Gentile 
inclusion into the covenant of grace. Chapter 11, Peter has 
to explain this to religious authorities back in Jerusalem 
in terms of Cornelius and his inclusion. And then in chapter 
12, Peter's actually in prison. He almost loses his head under 
Herod, but he is freed by Christ from that prison cell. So as 
I said, the emphasis is primarily on Peter. And this morning, I 
want to look first of all at the healing of Inaeus in verses 
32 to 35. And then secondly, the restoration of Tabitha in 
verses 36 to 43. So it's a straightforward narrative, 
but quite amazing. The fact that this Aeneas had 
been in a condition for eight years, and the fact that this 
Tabitha was dead, and here comes Simon Peter, in the name and 
with the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ. And this man, Ineas, 
is raised up from his sickbed. And this woman, Tabitha, is raised 
up from her deathbed. So let's look first at the healing 
of Ineas in verses 32 to 35. We know what Peter is doing according 
to verse 32. It says, it came to pass, as 
Peter went through all parts of the country, that he also 
came down to the saints who dwelt in Lydda. Now, Lydda, if you 
look at this on a map, you probably won't find it. In the Old Testament, 
it was called Lod, L-O-D. So if you want to find Lydda, 
look for L-O-D, Lod, in your map guide or whatever they call 
that thing, the concordance to the maps, I guess. But that's 
what it was. And Lydda was about 32 miles 
northwest of Jerusalem. And here it's about 10 miles 
southeast of Joppa. And what he is doing is he's 
going about the churches and he's seeking to strengthen the 
people of God. He's an apostle from Jerusalem. He's making his 
way west. He's going to go to the coast 
there in Joppa. And it's from there that he's 
going to meet up with these representatives from Cornelius. God's going to 
bring them together. And we'll look at the significance 
of that. Toward the end of the message this morning, but he 
comes to Lydda and while he is there according to verse 33 He 
found a certain man named Ineos who had been bedridden eight 
years and was paralyzed again This is a desperate condition. 
This is a terrible thing. We are not bedridden and we are 
not paralyzed there are persons that in fact experience such 
things. But in this particular instance, 
very similar to with the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, he 
finds these downtrodden and poor. He finds these ones that are 
physically incapacitated. He finds these ones wherein the 
glory and the power and the majesty of God is going to be displayed 
in their healing. And that is precisely the emphasis 
in the passage. Now note in terms of the healing 
of this man, Inaeus. Verse 34 tells us, Peter said 
to him, Inaeus, Jesus the Christ heals you, arise and make your 
bed. We learn first of all that the 
healing is done by Christ. going to argue later on with 
reference to the miraculous that we find in the book of Acts, 
the church's expectation ought not to be on that. Our emphasis 
today is to preach the word of the living God. The miraculous 
existed initially to confirm that the preaching of the apostles 
was in fact from God Almighty. Now the argument is not that 
God can't heal people. We can certainly pray that God 
heals people. We can pray that until the cows 
come home. But to look for an agency, to 
look for particular men that have been given this gift of 
healing, that ceased, that ended with the close of the canon of 
the New Testament. In other words, they served a 
purpose and a function to authenticate and attest and confirm that what 
the apostles were preaching were, in fact, the Word of God. But 
today, we don't need to look for Mark Driscoll or Benny Hinn 
or any claimant to have these powers of healing and repairing 
persons. We pray to God Almighty, and 
if it is His will, He raises people up. But in the apostolic 
era, these signs, these wonders, these miracles accompanied the 
preaching of the word so that persons knew that it was in fact 
God's word. When you look at the Bible as 
a whole, miracles occur when God is revealing himself. Miracles 
occur at the time of Moses. Miracles occur at the time of 
the prophets. Miracles occur at the time of Jesus. And miracles 
occur at the time of the apostles. Why? Because Moses, the prophets, 
Jesus, and the apostles are preaching God's word. And so that persons 
will in fact know that it's God's words, he sends these signs and 
wonders and miracles to confirm that it is in fact the word of 
God. In the New Testament era, the emphasis in the final letter 
written by the apostle Paul is not on the miraculous, it's not 
on tongue speaking, it's not on prophesying, and it's not 
on healing. The emphasis with Paul in 2 Timothy 
chapter four is, Preach the word, be ready in season and out of 
season, convince, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and teaching. 
Why? Because the time will come when 
they will no longer endure sound doctrine, but the professing 
people of God will heap up teachers that will scratch their tickled 
ears. And then Paul says, the time 
of my departure is at hand. So he has two reasons to Timothy 
as to why Timothy needs to preach the word. because persons don't 
want the word, so Paul says, preach it to them anyway. Isn't 
that great logic? What do we do? Well, child, you 
don't want your broccoli? Okay, you can have cake. No, 
make them eat their broccoli. I don't mean make by, you know, 
sitting on their chest and forcing it down their throat, but enforce 
the reality that there's nutrients to be had in broccoli that there 
aren't in cake, and you make them take it. That's Paul's logic 
when the church will not endure sound doctrine. Do we bring in 
the puppets? Do we bring in the ponies? Do 
we bring in the flannel grass? No, we preach the word. In other 
words, God says, I know what my people need the most. I don't 
let them as two-year-olds make decision in terms of their dietary 
habits. I tell them what they're supposed 
to eat. And the same logic holds today. This fascination with 
persons working miracles is absolutely positively misguided. Again, 
do not misunderstand. My argument is what's called 
a cessationist argument or a non-continuationist. The argument isn't that God can't 
do miracles. The argument isn't that God can't 
make sick people better. The argument isn't that God can't 
raise people from the dead. The argument is, is that there's 
no longer an apostolic ministry. There's no longer a group of 
men invested with that authority by Jesus Christ so that their 
preaching can be affirmed or confirmed by the signs and wonders 
that accompanied it. And I hope to develop that a 
little bit later on. and won't have to as much because I just 
did it. But notice what we have here. 
The healing is done by Christ. It's not Peter. Peter said to 
him, Inaeus, Jesus the Christ heals you. That is so contrary 
to what we find to those who claim to have this ability and 
power now. Those who claim to have this 
ability and power now are quite taken up with their ability and 
power. They're quite taken up with their role in the church 
and in the kingdom. They're quite proud with reference 
to these particular expressions of what they deem to be the power 
of God. But for Peter, it wasn't. Simon 
Peter is here. Everything's going to be OK. 
Peter, the celebrity apostle, is here, and he's going to make 
all your woes go away. No, Aeneas. that it's Jesus the 
Christ that heals you. As well, the apostle follows 
the example of our Lord Jesus Christ. He had spent enough time 
with him to hear how and know how the Lord Christ had healed 
the persons that he met in his preaching ministry. Notice what 
he says. Peter said to him, Inaeus, Jesus 
the Christ heals you. Arise and make your bed. Jesus 
does that in Mark 2 11 to the paralytic. I say to you, arise, 
take up your bed and go to your house. Why do you think Jesus 
and Peter say that. Why do you think Peter says to 
him, arise and make your bed? Because God is a God of order 
and likes made beds? I would say yeah, but that's 
not the emphasis. Kids, make your beds. God is 
a God of order and your bed should be made. That's not the point. 
things he was unable to do as a paralyzed man, he is now able 
to do. He's able to arise, which he 
had never been able to, and now he's able to make his bed, which 
he had never been able to. It manifests that the power of 
Jesus Christ was effectual onto the healing of this particular 
man. It didn't make him mostly better. It didn't kind of assist 
him along the way. And then as well, it was effective 
immediately. There's no process involved. 
When the power of Christ comes upon a man, a woman, a boy or 
a girl who's in that miserable condition, it's not like going 
to your doctor on repeat visits so he can fix whatever your particular 
malady is. This is the power of Jesus Christ 
as displayed with reference to this man, Inaeus. Now notice 
the response of the people in verse 35. After this healing 
of Aeneas, we see in verse 35, all who dwelt at Lydda and Sharon. Now Sharon was the very lush 
region between Joppa and Caesarea on the coastline there. So it 
says that all who dwelt in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned 
to the Lord. Again, we must assume that Peter 
preached the word. He didn't just say to Aeneas, 
Jesus the Christ heals you, but he explained who Jesus the Christ 
is. He explained the significance 
behind the mission and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He 
unfolded to the people around there the gospel. You see, the 
miracles were never designed simply to impress people, but 
it was to usher them into, via the word and spirit, the very 
kingdom of God Almighty. See, oftentimes the emphasis 
lies on this. Well, let's go see what this 
guy can do. That's not the important factor in the New Testament era. The important factor is that 
sinners, who are in a worse condition than a paralyzed man, a bedridden 
man of eight years, but the reality is that sinners can hear the 
truth of the gospel and be saved by grace through faith in Jesus. Remember that scene in Mark chapter 
2 or in Matthew 9, which is simply the parallel. That paralytic 
man that Jesus is dealing with there is the one whom his friends 
lowered down from the roof. Remember that? Jesus is preaching, 
there's a whole bunch of people around, and so the men with their 
friend could not get in because of the press of the crowd. So 
they open up the roof, they lower this man in, and when Jesus sees 
him, he says, son, your sins are forgiven you. Think about 
the significance of that. What would we be after? A healing. 
physical, let him walk. But Jesus says, your sins are 
forgiven you. And of course the Pharisees and 
the scribes are all scratching their heads saying, who does 
he think he is? Only God alone can forgive sins. Of course, 
Jesus knows what they're thinking. And Jesus says to them, which 
is easier, to say to the man, your sins are forgiven you or 
take up your bed and walk? Well, is it easier to say your 
sins are forgiven you because we don't know whether that's 
the case or not. So then Jesus says to the paralytic, arise, 
take up your bed and walk. We all camp on, or not all of 
us, but some Charismatics and Pentecostals think the amazing 
thing there is that the paralytic picked up his bed and walked. 
But we who know better realize the better thing was his sins 
were forgiven. He's going to go to heaven. And 
the fact that he now arises, the fact that he now takes up 
the bed and walk, shows that Christ has the power on earth 
to forgive sins. In other words, the healing of 
the paralyzed man serves as the exhibit, the confirmation or 
attestation that Christ has power to forgive sinners. Brethren, 
friend, there is a problem worse than paralysis. There is a problem 
worse than chronic illness. There is a problem worse than 
any of the bad things you can think of out there. And that 
problem is sin. But the glorious gospel of Jesus 
Christ deals with the sin problem, doesn't it? Such were some of 
you, Paul says to the church in Koran, but you were washed 
You were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever malady, whatever issue, 
whatever challenge, whatever trial, whatever difficulty you 
ever face as God's people, realize that the worst has been defeated 
by the Savior. Realize that the sin that affects 
you in your totality has been dealt with by the blood of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. It really is a glorious thing. 
So Peter preaches the word of God along with this sign done 
with Inaeus, and it says in verse 31, So all who dwelt at Lydda 
and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord. The miraculous deeds 
were not an end in themselves, but they served a redemptive 
purpose. Again, take one of these modern 
faith healers. They do all this rigmarole and 
don't preach the gospel. All the rigmarole in the world, 
unaccompanied by the gospel of free grace, isn't going to do 
sinners any good whatsoever. So Peter doesn't leave it there 
with the healing of Aeneas, but he preaches the truth, and in 
that, the Spirit of God comes, he blesses, and we learn, they 
turned to the Lord. They were converted. That man 
had woke up that day, and at the end of the day, he was able 
to walk, he was able to rejoice, he was able to celebrate, and 
sinners who had woke up that day, dead in their trespasses 
and sins, laid their heads down that night, having been turned 
to the Lord by his grace and for his glory. It really is a 
beautiful demonstration of the power of Jesus. Now notice, secondly, 
the restoration of Tabitha in verses 36 to 43. Note her death. in verses 36 and 37. Prior to 
her death, it tells us something of her life. Now, Tabitha is 
the Aramaic form, and Dorcas is the Greek form of her name, 
and both mean gazelle. So Tabitha is what Peter uses, 
so we understand that Peter uses or spoke in Aramaic. He addresses 
her that way, uses the language exactly similar to what Jesus 
does with Jairus' daughter, except there it's Talitha, little girl, 
and here it's Tabitha, because that's her name. And so he comes 
to this particular region, or he's going to be called to this 
particular region, but initially it tells us what this woman was 
like. At Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which 
is translated Dorcas. This woman was full of good works 
and charitable deeds which she had done. Now, brethren, I don't 
know if there would be a better epitaph that could be written 
for a person than that. We know we're not saved by good 
works, because we don't have any apart from Jesus Christ. 
But as those justified freely by God's grace, those who have 
received that grace of justification, sanctification inevitably follows. 
Good works do proceed. We're saved by faith alone, but 
that faith doesn't remain alone, but it's accompanied by all other 
saving graces. namely, sanctification and good 
works. So this woman, as an expression of her faith in Christ, was this 
kind of person. This woman was full of good works 
and charitable deeds, which she did. Now, most likely, she was 
a woman of means. And these widows and these people 
that are in verse 39, that are lamenting her death or her passing, 
showed to Peter all the tunics and the garments that she had 
made. She had served the downtrodden and poor. She had been full of 
good works. She had engaged in charitable 
deeds. Again, I don't think there could 
be a better sort of epitaph written concerning a particular person. 
Matthew Poole explains it this way. She was rich in good works, 
which are the best riches, last longest and go farthest. It really is a great testimony 
to the grace of God in her life. And it ought to make us reflect 
How would persons describe me if I dropped dead today? Would 
they be able to say that fellow or that woman was full of good 
works and charitable deeds, which she did? Now, it doesn't take 
me long to conclude that I'm not like Tabitha. I'm certainly 
not like Tabitha as I ought to be. And I think we all ought 
to meditate upon this and muse on this and reflect upon the 
reality that we have been saved not because of our good works, 
but unto good works. For we are His workmanship, Paul 
says in Ephesians 2.10, created in Christ Jesus for what? For 
good works, which God had prepared beforehand that we should walk 
in them. So don't mistake what I'm saying. 
You are not saved because of your good works, but you are 
saved unto good works. And as Luther famously said, 
God doesn't need your good works, but your neighbors do. And as 
those saved by God's grace, you want to be about that sort of 
a thing, such that when we do die, it's not that the world 
is going to say, good riddance. I mean, that guy was a Hang her 
on. That guy just glommed on. He 
was a real, you know, real pain in the neck or whatever it might 
be. No, this woman was full of good works and charitable deeds, 
which she did. And then notice in verse 37, 
it happened in those days that she became sick and died. It's 
interesting, isn't it? Same sorts of things that happen 
to unbelievers happen to believers. Notice what Peter doesn't do 
when he comes here. You know, if you had faith, that 
sickness wouldn't have overtaken you. If you had faith, you wouldn't 
have died. He doesn't lecture her. He doesn't 
reprimand her, which is the prevailing opinion among those modern faith 
healers, that if something is wrong in your life, if you contract 
some terrible disease, it's because you don't have faith. Imagine 
butchering souls that way. Imagine the great disservice 
that men do when they say to people that it's your fault that 
you have contracted this disease. Tabitha lived in a world that 
is under the curse of God Almighty. We live in a world that is under 
the curse of God Almighty. We are not immune from sickness. 
We're not immune from disease. We're not immune from chronic 
illness. We're not immune from death itself. 
That is the reality that we face living in this world. So if any 
of these charlatans ever want to chastise you or chide you 
because you've got problems and it's your fault, resist that, 
reject it. I cannot believe that persons 
get taken in by such charlatans like this. It really is sad. 
it really is pathetic, and it really is frustrating, and in 
some degree infuriating. So she dies, and notice the disciples, 
as I said, of Christ get sick and die, and then the disciples 
of this particular, the disciples, the Christian disciples, notice 
in verse 37, it says, when they had washed her, they laid her 
in an upper room. Now, Peter here, is like the 
master, he's like Jesus, and some of the things, the terminology 
that he uses, but if you think even back beyond the ministry 
of our Lord Christ to two men named Elijah and Elisha, Peter's 
much like them as well. Upper rooms are where they raised 
the dead, or God did through their agency. and they would 
put others out so that they would be alone with that body and have 
dealings with God, the God who actually raises from the dead. 
You see Elijah in 1 Kings 17, that widow who had a son who 
died, and then Elisha in 2 Kings 4 with the Shunammite woman who 
had a son and then he died. It's the same sort of a pattern 
that we see, that God is working his glorious power through the 
means of Elijah, Elisha, and Simon Peter. And so you ought 
to be thinking in terms of these Old Testament connections that 
we see as well. But notice in terms of the restoration 
of Tabitha in verses 38 to 42. It's very intriguing. The disciples 
know that Peter is nearby. What happens when somebody is 
sick? You call a doctor. What happens when somebody dies? 
You call an apostle. Right? This is the argument. There's no apostles today. There's 
no agency entrusted by Christ with the ability to heal Aeneas 
or to raise Tabitha. But in the first century church, 
you had the apostolic ministry and these disciples in Lydda 
knew, or in Joppa knew that Peter was nearby in Lydda. And so they 
send for him, not because she's sick and he has some medical 
ability, but because she's dead and the power of God is able 
to raise the dead to raise the dead up. So they call for him 
and then in his ministry, he comes over there. Notice verse 
38, since Lydda was near Joppa and the disciples had heard that 
Peter was there, they sent two men to him, imploring him not 
to delay in coming to them. Then Peter arose and went with 
them. When he had come, they brought 
him to the upper room, and all the widows stood by him weeping, 
showing the tunics and garments which Dorcas had made while she 
was with them." So it's not just an empty sort of a statement 
that she was full of good works and charitable deeds. You have 
this band of widows there that are able to confirm that she 
was that type of a woman. Look at the tunics, look at the 
garments, look at the good things that she's done. She has kept 
us from freezing to death. She has kept us dry. She has 
been a monument of God's grace in our lives in terms of real 
tangible aid and physical help. So Peter meets these people, 
he hears what's going on, and then he dismisses them. He sends 
them away. Again, not because he's mean 
or vicious or cruel or unkind, but because he wants to have 
dealings with God Almighty, who is the one who in fact is the 
one who raises the dead. So he arises, he goes with them, 
he goes into the upper room where the body lay, and then he prays 
to the Lord. Notice in verse 40. But Peter 
put them all out and knelt down and prayed. You see, Peter knew 
that Peter didn't have the power. Peter knew that he couldn't just 
snap his fingers and dead people would rise up. Peter knew that 
the power was Christ's. He saw it with Ineos. He saw 
it in other instances where miracles were wrought. He knew that he 
didn't possess this. It wasn't that God said, hey, 
Peter, I'm gonna just give you this power and this gift so that 
you can use it indiscriminately. You can just go about the countryside 
and heal whoever it is you wanna heal. No, Peter knew better. 
So he bows before the Lord God, and he prays. Verse 40. Peter 
put them all out, knelt down, and prayed. And turning to the 
body, he said, Tabitha, arise. Again, it follows precisely what 
Jesus does in Mark 5, 41. Then he took the child by the 
hand and said to her, Talitha koumi, which is translated, little 
girl, I say to you, arise. Same exact phrase Peter employs, 
again, except for the L and the V. And that's not, you know, 
I don't think there's anything esoteric or specifically mysterious 
about that. He had just been in the presence 
of the Savior and saw how the Savior had raised Jairus' daughter, 
and he uses the same language here with Tabitha. Kumi, arise, 
get up from your deathbed. So it's an amazing thing that 
we see in the first section with reference to the healing of Aeneas, 
but this woman is dead. These people aren't fools. They're 
not, you know, faked. They're not, you know, backwards 
podunk people that have no idea what a dead body looks like. 
It wasn't the fact that they were just deceived or deluded 
and she was just having a really deep sleep and Peter came and 
shook her and sort of arose her from that deep slumber. No, he 
raised her from the dead, or God raised her from the dead 
through the agency or instrumentality of Peter. The emphasis is upon 
the prayer of Peter, the activity of God, the power of Jesus Christ. It's not in Peter. And then notice 
that he presents her alive to these people. I love the way 
that Luke, who was a doctor, explains this. I'd just say she 
got up. She got up. That's all I would 
witness. But Luke kind of takes us by 
the hand as a physician and tells us the steps. She opened her 
eyes. Again, I would just say she got 
up. But Luke notes this, that he's the historian here, he's 
the theologian, but he's also a medical doctor and oftentimes 
in some of the healing narratives, you see this sort of medical 
facet or emphasis by our author here. So he says this, he says, 
then she opened her eyes and when she saw Peter, she sat up. 
Again, I'm thinking she got up. He's given us the process. He's 
telling us the steps involved. He's showing us how when consciousness 
returns to her, these are the things that occur. She first 
opens her eyes, then she sees Simon Peter there, and he gave 
her his hand and lifted her up. And when he had called the saints 
and widows, he presented her alive. Again, much like the Savior, 
in an account in Luke chapter 7, there was a widow at a city 
called Nain, and her son had died, and Jesus raised him from 
the dead and presented him alive. Again, this isn't, you know, 
in some backwoods room. It wasn't off the beaten path. 
It wasn't the report of some that were, you know, had mass 
hysteria. It's very public, it's very evident, 
it's very obvious, and it's very immediate. There's no progression 
from she's dead to mostly dead, and then to partially dead, and 
then eventually, no, she's raised by the power of God Almighty. You know, there's the sort of 
famous illustration of the old-time revivalist meetings with the 
faith healer when, you know, the faith healer pronounces that 
the man who's got difficulty in seeing or he's blind, you 
know, he puts the whammy on him and he heals him, and then he 
says, I want you to read John 3.16. Well, come on, everybody 
knows John 3.16. You don't have to read it. So 
as he recites it, there it is, he's been healed. No, he knew 
that from memory. See, not everything that purports 
to be of God is of God. And I would suggest that a man 
who arrogates to himself the power to heal or the power to 
raise the dead is a man that is completely contrary to the 
Apostle Peter. He is not of the same fabric. And we need to be very wary and 
very careful of such people. Again, the argument isn't that 
God can't heal Ineos. The argument isn't that God can't 
raise the dead. The argument is that specifically 
there is not an apostolic ministry charged by Christ with the purposes 
of healing, casting out demons, raising the dead, and preaching 
the word. Those men are gone, they've left 
us their writings, and that is what we in the church are supposed 
to be about. Now, notice what happens in terms 
of the effect of the result. After he presents her alive, 
according to verse 42, it became known throughout all Joppa, and 
many believed on the Lord. Same emphasis that we have with 
Ineos. The miracles, the signs, the 
wonders serve a redemptive end. See, I remember being a brand 
new Christian and coming into contact with a charismatic or 
Pentecostal group, and then making the mistake of my life, going 
to one of their public services. And the guest speaker there looked 
specifically at me and Pastor Barcelos, and there was one other 
brother with us. And he looked at us and he said, when we're 
in these other countries, and when we've gathered together, 
those people don't come for doctrine or for the Apostles Creed, they 
come for a healing. Well, then they're not coming 
the way they did in the book of Acts. Because in the book 
of Acts, they may have come for a healing, but they wanted doctrine. 
They wanted truth. They wanted the gospel. They 
wanted freedom. Not from their malady in terms 
of physicality, but from the malady of sin. What an underestimation 
of the power of God. Paul says, I'm not ashamed of 
the gospel, for it is the power of God unto what? Unto salvation 
for everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the 
Greek. For in that gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed 
from faith to faith, that as it is written, the just shall 
live by faith. We're undercutting the power of God when we're focusing 
upon the physical to the neglect of the spiritual. Imagine doing 
that disservice to people. Oh, come and get healed of whatever 
malady it is, but then go on home because you don't want doctrine. 
It's precisely doctrine that persons should want with reference 
to Christianity. It's the reality that Christ 
lived, that Christ died, that Christ was raised again. Any 
so-called ministry that fails to emphasize that is not the 
ministry that Jesus calls us to. It is a sham, it is a fake, 
it is a fraud. And that's what we ought to see 
with reference to the apostolic healing and ministry in the New 
Testament. Many believed on the Lord, the 
redemptive focus of the miraculous in the gospel narratives and 
as well in the book of Acts. It wasn't to impress. It wasn't 
to dazzle. It wasn't to make people say, 
wow, Israel's God is really good. But it was to show them Jesus. It was to show them their sin. 
It was to show them the way of salvation by grace through faith 
in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Now notice where the narrative 
ends in verse 43. It may seem a bit incidental, 
but I want to try and just show the significance in light of 
what's gonna happen in chapter 10. Verse 43 says, so it was 
that he, Peter, stayed many days in Joppa with Simon a tanner. So he stays in Joppa many days. 
He's gonna be there. He's gonna have a vision. Cornelius 
is gonna have a vision. Cornelius is gonna send delegates 
or representatives or friends to find Simon Peter. And then 
Peter's gonna come and he's gonna preach the gospel to the household 
of Cornelius. There's kind of an interesting 
or curious thing about this statement though in verse 43. Not that 
there's two Simons, Simon Peter and Simon the Tanner, but Simon's 
a tanner. Do you know what a tanner is? 
If you went to a first century Jew's house, you probably wouldn't 
have seen a buck on his wall. Not because they didn't eat meat 
or kill bucks, but because they didn't have contact with dead 
things. That was forbidden. The book 
of Leviticus chapter 11, specifically on three occasions, forbids the 
children of Israel to touch or contact dead things. What's a 
tanner do? He makes his living with dead 
things. It's kind of a paradox, isn't it? How do you make a living 
with dead things? So that Simon Peter goes to stay with Simon 
the Tanner indicates a couple of things that are curious, at 
least. One, Simon Peter isn't as fastidious 
as the Pharisees were. He wasn't the sort of guy that 
says, oh, I can't go near that downtrodden guy. I can't go near 
that one that is ceremonially unpure. No, Simon Peter goes 
and stays in the house of Simon the Tanner. But I think the significance 
lay ultimately in Simon Peter's vision that we get there in chapter 
10, and then Peter's explanation of the vision to Cornelius in 
chapter 10, verse 28. Peter is going to tell Cornelius 
this. Then he said to them, you know 
how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go 
to one of another nation, ceremonially, Unclean, impure, bad thing, dog 
thing. Jews don't hang out with Gentiles. 
That's just not the way Jews roll. He goes on to say, but 
God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. Gentile inclusion in the covenant 
promises of God. Peter recognizes after having 
received this vision from the Lord, that he is not to look 
down upon Gentiles. He's not to despise even tanners. He is not to think in terms of 
two tiers. He is rather to think of the 
power of the Christian gospel. He is rather to think of the 
blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, which cleanses us from all sin. 
Verse 43 in chapter 9, though it may seem incidental, paves 
the way or foreshadows what's going to happen in terms of Cornelius' 
inclusion in the covenant of grace. So that Simon Peter goes 
and stays with Simon the tenor shows this. Again, it's a down 
payment or at least alerting us, hey, not everything there 
seems consistent with what we find elsewhere, but just stay 
tuned and pay attention. And when God comes to Simon Peter 
in terms of this vision, telling him to arise, kill and eat, and 
he says, but Lord, I've never killed anything unclean. God 
says, go ahead and kill this unclean thing. What's the point? It's not to treat the Gentiles 
as if they're second-class citizens. It's not to treat them as if 
they are outside of the scope of God's redemptive grace. Rather, 
Simon Peter, you need to understand that the gospel is for every 
tribe, tongue, people, and nation. Robert Raymond famously said 
with reference to Acts chapter 10, one may legitimately say 
that the entire event was recorded, not only to recount the conversion 
of Cornelius, but also to record the conversion of Peter to Gentile 
evangelism. So verse 43 in chapter 9, that 
he stays with Simon the Tanner in Joppa for these many days, 
we see these barriers already breaking down in the mind and 
in the life of the Apostle. Would Peter have done that before? 
Before he had met Jesus? Would Peter have done that before 
he had come under the grace of God Almighty? Or would he have 
said, well, Leviticus 11 forbids me or prohibits me of having 
contact with a man who has contact with dead things. See, there's 
a lot of stuff going on there in that small incidental verse 
in chapter 9, verse 43. But something else that's unique 
about Joppa. Again, you know, when you read 
the book of Acts, when you read anything in the New Testament, 
try to think Old Testament too. What was the significance of 
Joppa in the Old Testament? Well, it was the site or the 
place where there was a mission to Gentiles sort of initiated. Remember Jonah? He's told to 
go to Nineveh, but he'd rather go to Tarshish. Don't you love 
that scene? Jonah, why don't you go to Nineveh? 
No, I'm not going to Nineveh. It's almost like Peter, Lord, 
I've never killed anything unclean. Peter says this happened three 
times. Peter, if God's telling you you can eat the unclean thing, 
go ahead. Go right ahead. But Jonah does 
this. He wants to go to Tarshish, but 
he has to go to this coastal town to catch a boat in order 
to get to Tarshish. It's Joppa. In the 8th century 
BC, God launches a mission to Gentiles, Ninevites, outside 
of Israel from Joppa. In the 1st century AD, God initiates 
a mission to Gentiles from this self-same city called Joppa. Both Jonah and Peter were hesitant. Both Jonah and Peter were reluctant. You get that. That's why God 
gives him this vision. That's why Peter says in verse 
28 to Cornelius, Cornelius, you know that this isn't garden variety. 
It's not the case that Jews hang out with Gentiles. There is a 
reluctance on the part of Simon Peter, according to Acts chapter 
10, hence the vision given to him. So both of these men are 
hesitant, both of these men are reluctant, but both of these 
men ultimately go to those respective places, and both of these men 
see success in their ministry, but then both of these men are 
challenged by the success of the ministry. With Peter, it's 
the religious leadership, and with Jonah, it's his own heart. 
So there's a similarity that Luke gives us with reference 
to Peter from Joppa and Jonah from Joppa. And the target audience 
is the same. It is the Gentiles and everywhere 
the Bible enforces that message. Jesus Christ is not simply the 
savior of ethnic Jews. Christ is the savior of the world. Didn't we see that in the book 
of Acts? I'm sorry, in the gospel of John and John 4, Jesus dealings 
with that woman at the well, that Samaritan woman. She goes 
back and she tells the villagers, come, see a man who told me all 
things that I ever did. They come, they hear it for themselves. And then they say and describe, 
we have seen it and heard it for ourselves that he is the 
savior of the world. I suggest that that is the key 
to understanding John 3, 16. God so loved the world. That 
doesn't mean every single human being without exception. It means 
men without distinction. Jews, Gentiles, Samaritans, men, 
women, old, young. The gospel is for sinners. We all have that in common, and 
that's the glory of Jesus Christ, to save from every tribe, people, 
tongue, and nation. So 943 paves the way, at least 
in small part, for what's gonna happen in Acts chapter 10. Marshall 
says both Peter and Jonah start from Joppa and go to the Gentiles. 
Both protest against their commissions and need fresh revelations from 
God, and both have successful missions, the legitimacy of which 
is questioned. Well, in conclusion, a couple 
of thoughts, I'll close in prayer, and then we'll go. In the first 
place, the ministry of the Apostle Peter. One of the things that 
I think we need to appreciate about the book of Acts is the 
division of labor. The division of labor is a reality 
and it's instituted by God himself. Saul of Tarsus can't do everything. Peter can't do everything. Men 
from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation are going to take 
more than Simon Peter to call them out of darkness into marvelous 
light. Brethren, a plurality of men are employed by Christ 
in this missionary enterprise to see the extension of Christ's 
kingdom on earth. And as well, we need to appreciate 
that no one man, or the kingdom rather, depends on no one man 
save Jesus Christ. But when Paul dies, does the 
church end? No, it marches on. When Peter 
dies, does the church end? No, it marches on. I mean, we 
love them and we have a fond heart for them and we appreciate 
their labors on behalf of the kingdom, but the kingdom of God 
doesn't ultimately depend upon us. And I find that to be very 
encouraging. I find that to be very good news, 
that it doesn't matter ultimately with reference to any human being 
as to whether the church survives or doesn't. It matters about 
Christ. Doesn't he say this in Matthew 
chapter 16? I will build my church. Now again, I'm not suggesting 
he doesn't use instruments. He doesn't say, I'm going to 
do it all on my own single-handedly. No, he uses the bride. He uses 
the woman. There's an analogy between Christ's 
great commission and what we find in the Garden of Eden. Adam 
is told to exercise dominion, to subdue the earth. Eve is his 
helper, to assist him in that particular project. Well, the 
same is true with the second Adam. It's the Lord Christ who 
subdues, it's the Lord Christ who is taming, it's the Lord 
Christ who is extending the kingdom of God on earth, and his bride 
serves alongside, or rather, helps him in this particular 
mission. So we need to appreciate that 
because at times we can be imbalanced and think it all depends upon 
us. I'm not saying this so I can alleviate myself from any responsibility 
and not do what I'm supposed to do. But brethren, we need 
to be freed in our heads and minds and hearts that this project 
is ultimately Christ's. He is far more better equipped 
for it, and he will certainly accomplish what he has purposed 
and promised in building his church, saying that the gates 
of hell itself shall never prevail against it. The division of labor 
is legit, the division of labor is biblical, the division of 
labor is blessed, so that no one man is ultimately ruined 
because he's trying to do everything that God calls him to do. Secondly, 
I wanted to revisit this idea of the miracles in the early 
church and just summarize some of the things that I said earlier. 
First, the miracles were done by the power of the Lord Jesus. 
With Inaeus, Peter says, Jesus the Christ heals you. And with 
Tabitha, Peter knelt down and prayed. Again, the emphasis is 
upon the power of Christ and not the power of Peter. Secondly, 
the miracles were immediately effective. It wasn't like Peter 
said, okay, come back in four weeks, Aeneas, and we'll hook 
you up. I remember when I was a kid, 
I had planter's warts. And the way they dealt with planter's 
warts then was they burned it off, and you'd think they could 
just do it in one fell swoop. No, you had to go every week 
for that fresh pain and that smoking foot. It was no fun. 
Now you can just buy Compound W and do your own foot at home, 
which is kind of nice, but back then they didn't have that. and 
you had to go to the doctor so he could inflict great pain on 
you. But it certainly wasn't immediately effective. You know, 
it was gradual, it was slow, it was painful. That's not the 
way they did this. Inaeus, Jesus the Christ heals 
you, arise and make your bed. He does it. Tabitha, arise and 
she does it as well. The miracles are publicly attested. 
They're publicly attending. Oh yeah, you know, in this meeting 
we had in this back room, this guy pulled up, threw out the 
whammy and he healed a bunch of... I'm sorry, I'm a skeptic. By nature, I'm just very suspicious 
of these claims. Especially the claims that a 
man on this side of the apostolic ministry has the power to heal. Especially when that man is, 
you know, the sorts of men that I've been exposed to in terms 
of the healers that we have seen. As well, the miracles were accompanied 
by the preaching of the Word of God. Redemptive focus, never 
forget, not simply to dazzle the audience, but to give them 
the gospel so that they, by grace, could be saved. The miracles 
authenticated the preaching ministry of the apostles. You see that 
at the very end of the book of Mark, This is Christ's emphasis 
in terms of the Great Commission. It says at the end of Mark, and 
they, the apostles, went out and preached everywhere, the 
Lord working with them, and notice, and confirming the word through 
the accompanying signs. What was the purpose of the accompanying 
signs? To confirm the word. The cessationist 
or the non-continuationist argument is simply this. Their word has 
been penned. Their word is finalized. We have 
their word in the canon of the New Testament. Therefore, to 
look for accompanying signs is to look in vain. Again, not that 
God can't do such things, but God has not entrusted to an agency 
of men to do such things. That's the argument. It's not 
deistic. It's not pagan. It's not all 
the sorts of things that persons have accused us of. We believe 
in the power of God. We believe in His ability to 
heal. We just disbelieve that He's going to use Benny Hinn. 
That's the issue. Now notice as well, the death 
of the apostles and the completed collection of their writings, 
or what we call the canon of scripture, meant that miracles 
ceased to be done by representatives in the church. Rather, the ministry 
of the church is tasked with what? Preaching. Why do we not 
want this? Or why do we not like this? Some 
get consumed with the miracles and the signs and the wonders. 
Others get consumed with the entertainment. Others get consumed 
with pandering. Others get consumed with being 
respectable amongst a people that hate God in a culture. Brethren, 
the standing order for the church of Jesus Christ is to preach 
the word. If we get tired of that, our 
problem is with God. If we think there are better 
ways to do it, our problem is with God. God knows the creature. God made the creature. God sustains 
the creature. God knows precisely what we need, 
just like we as parents know what the nutritional needs are 
for our two-year-olds. I doubt any one of you would 
ever let your child enter into debates or conversations as to 
why he shouldn't have a good portion of meat and fat for dinner, 
and that he should get sugar and refined carbohydrates. If 
you engage in that, you're a fool. You would never do that. You 
would make sure they eat what they're supposed to. So when 
Paul says to Timothy, the time will come when they will not 
endure sound doctrine, but they'll want sugar and refined carbohydrates, 
Paul's response is, preach the word. We don't let the people 
dictate what they want or need. We preach the word. Why is it, 
in the history of the church, this one standard objective continually 
gets neglected? It continually gets a run-over 
roughshod. We're caught up with the signs 
and the wonders. We're caught up with the entertainment. 
We're caught up with the self-help. We're caught up with the therapy. 
We're caught up with the moralism. We're caught up with the behavior 
modification. We need to preach Christ crucified 
to the Jews' stumbling block and to the Greeks' foolishness, 
but to those who are being saved, Christ, the wisdom and power 
of God. That's our job. That's our task. Embrace it, 
we must, and embrace it to be blessed by God. When we get off 
the beaten path of preaching the word and we chase down all 
these shadows, we're gonna end up in a bad place. Another thing 
we often hear is, we've got to be culturally relevant. What 
more cultural relevance can there ever be than for the church to 
preach the word of God? We have to be like them and talk 
like them and have sex like them and do like them. No, we need 
to preach God's standard to this wicked world so that they will 
see they've broken the law and preach his blessed gospel to 
see that there is deliverance from God afforded in the person 
and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's another sort of thing. Oh, 
we don't preach the law. It's all about love, love, love, 
love, love. Brethren, if we never hear the law in our miserable 
state before God Almighty, we'll never appreciate his love. We 
will never appreciate the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ, our Lord, 
if we haven't first reflected upon Sinai and reflected upon 
how we have transgressed, how we like sheep have gone astray. 
The gospel is glorious because it comes to lawbreakers like 
us. Didn't we sing last Sunday night, 
guilty, vile, helpless we, spotless lamb of God was he, full atonement 
can it be? What does that evoke? Hallelujah, 
what a savior. Cultural relevance on the part 
of the church is to obey God almighty. It is to take what 
Paul says in 2 Timothy 4 seriously and to preach the word, to be 
ready in season and out of season, to convince, rebuke, exhort with 
all long suffering and teaching. And that is the emphasis that 
we find in the New Testament. Paul doesn't tell Timothy in 
2 Timothy 4, speak in tongues, heal people, throw the whammy 
out there, make everybody healthy and effort. That's not the point. 
The point is they are unhealthy, not physically, but spiritually. 
And the answer is in the word of the living God. Well, brethren, 
I hope that this will encourage our hearts to see first and foremost, 
God's power displayed in the healing of Ineos and in the raising 
or restoration of Tabitha, but to see equally and more powerfully 
the fact that the Word went forth and many turned to the Lord. 
Many were forgiven of their sins. Many were given that righteousness 
of Jesus Christ. Many were brought out of darkness 
into marvelous light. Aeneas and Tabitha is a keyhole 
by which we appreciate the grace of God Almighty working in the 
hearts of sinners in Lydda and in Joppa. And if you have not 
believed, if you are dead in your trespasses and sins, there 
is a Savior. And His name is Jesus Christ. 
And He came into this world sinners to save. It's not a great testimony 
of the Apostle Paul. This is a trustworthy statement. 
It is worthy of full acceptation that Christ Jesus came into this 
world sinners to save. It's a beautiful thing. And then 
He says, of whom I am chief. So if you're here this morning 
saying, you know, I'm too sinful. I know that Mr. Lawson and I 
met a guy. We did tracts, I think, one day 
over there, and this guy said, I'm too sinful for God. I'm just too wicked. Well, you 
know what that's like, right? That's like somebody saying, 
I'm too hungry to eat. Of course you need to eat because you're 
hungry. When we say, oh, I'm too sinful for God to save, there's 
pride and arrogance there because Paul is actually the chief of 
sinner, but there is mercy with God. There is forgiveness with 
God. Whatever you have done up to 
this point in your miserable life, God most high forgives. God most high cleanses. God most 
high takes the blood of his blessed son and washes sinners clean. It's a beautiful and a glorious 
thing that those of us who by God's grace were delivered from 
miserable lives can attest to. Well, let us close in a word 
of prayer. Father, we thank you for this section in the book 
of Acts. We thank you for the book of 
Acts as a whole and for the way it displays the glorious acts 
of Jesus Christ executed from the right hand of the Father 
through the apostles, through the churches. We pray, Father, 
that we would appreciate that Christ is Lord, Christ is head, 
Christ is king and builder of the church. And in light of that, 
may we take up our responsibilities with great vigor and with great 
joy and with great earnestness. And Father, for any and all who 
have yet to come to Christ, we pray that you by grace would 
constrain them, that you would show them their sin and show 
them the Savior for sinners. And we ask these things through 
Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen. Well, we'll close our service 
by singing number 564.